Detroit Tigers hoping Matt Moore can be traded like Mike Fiers

A quick primer on left-handed pitcher Matt Moore, whom the Detroit Tigers agreed to a one-year deal with in late November.
Kirkland Crawford, Detroit Free Press

FILE - In this Sept. 20, 2017 file photo, San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Matt Moore throws to the Colorado Rockies during a baseball game in San Francisco. As planned, San Francisco exercised their $7 million option for Moore. In 2017 He was 6-15, a career-high losses, with a 5.52 ERA over 174 1/3 innings. He allowed a career-high 107 earned runs. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)(Photo: The Associated Press)

A month into the offseason, the Tigers’ hot stove finally has begun to heat up with the addition of veteran left-hander Matt Moore on Tuesday.

Moore, once considered one of the top pitching prospects in baseball and still just 29 years old, will join the Tigers on a one-year deal worth around $2.5 million, according to multiple persons with knowledge of the situation.

The deal will be finalized pending a physical, which is expected to take place in the next week.

Moore, a one-time All-Star, will join the club after struggling the past two seasons, and the Tigers hope he can bounce back to his middle-of-the-rotation form to stabilize the starting rotation and, perhaps, provide a trade return next season.

In eight seasons, Moore has posted a 4.56 ERA and 1.41 WHIP, with 8.1 strikeouts per nine innings. Until the second half of last season with the Texas Rangers, he has been a full-time starting pitcher.

In 2018, Moore struggled to the tune of a 6.79 ERA and 1.65 WHIP, prompting Texas to move him to the bullpen. Some rival talent evaluators believe his best role is pitching out of the bullpen as a swingman, but the Tigers are hoping he claims a rotation spot in spring training.

Moore spent the first six seasons of his career with the Tampa Bay Rays and was an American League All-Star in 2013.

His stuff remains solid — Moore’s fastball has steadied at 93 mph — but his command and lack of consistency have prevented him from ascending as high as many believed he would.

Still, the pending signing is precisely the kind that many expected the Tigers would make this offseason, following their blueprint of last offseason, when they signed righty Mike Fiers and lefty Francisco Liriano to one-year deals.